Bought my latest X5 on Monday (11/2004 4.4i). Got warm in Adelaide today, so rang "Adelaide Auto Air" and the dude was in here in 2 hours. Aircon now icy cold.


Also did the panoramic roof fix. Stupid rear tilt BS!!!

Replaced these:
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Forgot the exact name, they are the anti roll bar links. If you hear a clunk every time you hit the tiniest bump these are the culprit.

For some immediate relief a dozen wraps of electrical tape on all four ends will keep you sane while parts are ordered and you have time to install. (I was surprised how effective it was! The clunk was gone. After a couple weeks it started to come back as the tape disintegrated but now the new parts are in!)

Pretty easy job. 4/10 difficulty. Needed one 6" wobble extension to get to the bottom nut. Most of the difficulty was holding the ball side from spinning as it wanted to pop off the wrench. I used my high power impact wrench and one nut was pretty rusted on it might more like 6-7 difficulty with ratchet wretch.

To move the roll bar a bit to install the new part I had my son use a 4' piece of 2x2 and a jack stand. (needed to lift about an inch to align it).

I lifted both fronts off the ground with a floor jack so there was no torsion on the bar.

Next up: the thrust bushings which are completely shot.


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They are sway bar links.

Thanks. Probably didn't need to quote my entre post to refresh my memory but I am glad to have that back in the brain.

I reinstalled the "chin" plastic airfoil that goes between bumper and skid plate. Been off for months while I got my oil leak fixed and engine bay scrubbed clean. I also replaced the foam sound absorber that goes on the skid plate as it was gross beyond words


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Sway bars are commonly called anti-roll bars, since their purpose is to reduce how much the car rolls in turns. "Sway bar" is just an abbreviation of "anti-sway bar."

Repaired the Driver side power folding mirror for the..... third time!
Finally think I got it. Thank god for spare parts.

These suckers can be pretty problematic at times.:rofl:

Just found my X5 has a digital TV tuner. Yay!

Replaced both motor mounts and CV boots. Only made sense as the axles had to come out anyhow to allow for enough room. On my 4.4 I remove the mount bolts from the top of the motor. This time I did everything from below. The drivers side mount of course was shot, passenger was still very tight, but dhanged it nonetheless.

Next week are the subframe bushings, just because I know eventually they will go out. No symptoms. Truck is smooth, and launches hard out the gate without much drama now. Prior I had a muted clunk-thus drivers mount.

2004 3.0L
Vanos got a rebuild yesterday, just seals as there is no strange sounds.

Did the single on my 99 M3 a few weeks ago, that is a lot harder due to retiming things.

Going to install some LED Foglight bulbs today and give it a good wash

put some Dr lube shudder fix in the gearbox,
looks like my torque converter is on its way out, as the shudder seems to have reduced
unless its just my imagination
I think I have a serious decision coming up.
recon TC and a recon gearbox (I don't see the point on putting a 150k miles tranny back onto a recon torque converter)
we shall see